Center for Public Health Practice

Health Plan Collaboration Plans

Minnesota’s licensed health plans must submit a plan to the Commissioner of Health describing how they will collaborate with community health boards and other community health-related organizations to achieve high-priority public health goals in the communities they serve. Collaboration plans promote an exchange of information that allows the public and private sectors to begin to identify areas of mutual interest and work together on high priority health problems in a community.

Background

In 1995, the first legislatively mandated collaboration plans formalized dialogues among public health and organized systems of health care. As a result, these groups started to develop a common language and to identify and undertake common efforts to achieve goals that prevent disease and improve the health of the people of Minnesota. They began to build collaborative relationships, and have learned to appreciate and understand each other’s language, strengths, and positions.

Today, health plans engage in many collaborative activities to achieve public health goals with many community partners. The collaboration plan for the planning cycle of 2015-2019 is a combined plan, prepared by the Minnesota Council of Health Plans. The plan combines into one document an extensive list of committees and regional groups that health plans participate on together with local health departments.

The plan also describes the public health work that these committees accomplish and the public health goals that they are addressing.